Showing posts with label
CA - Cross Cultural Restaurants.
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Showing posts with label
CA - Cross Cultural Restaurants.
Show all posts
Maruhide has been in the manufacturing and processing business for more than 3 decades. Right after the start of the retail restaurant, its fame has grown wider mostly due to bargained price uni.
You can learn all about Maruhide and lines of sea urchin products on their website. Meanwhile, here're some of the pictures from my lunch dining experiences.
Click on the image for an enlarged view -
Asahi beer $3 -
Salad that comes with the chirashi -
Bread -
Sea cucumber Carpaccio $11.8 -
You can also choose either tuna, salmon, or scallop for the Carpaccio.
Bottom: crispy green salad $7.8. Top: marinated sea urchin with squid roll $6.5 -
Didn't realize that the Carpaccio comes with a plateful of leafy greens, otherwise I would have never ordered the crispy salad.
Marinated uni is not as common as the fresh counterpart here in CA. As a result, ordering a roll is a good way to see if the flavors are as attractive as fresh uni. If you ended up loving marinated uni, Maruhide sells bottles with different seasonings ranging from olive oil, chili, squid, yuzu & chili, and original that you can take home with.
Sea urchin cream pasta $13.8 -
The uni pasta from EMC in Los Angeles tastes way better.
Soup -
Nigiyaga bowl $19.8 -
Overall, the price is pretty good considering the amount of fresh seafood you get. Taste-wise, it's neighter outstanding nor different from other similar restaurants. However, if you're craving for some Santa Barbara uni, Maruhide would be a money saving place to go for.
Cindy's Rating: 6 (good quantity but taste-wise not so memorable quality)
Maruhide Uni Club 丸秀
2130 West Redondo Beach Blvd
Torrance, CA 90504
(310) 323-2864
http://www.maruhide.us/?lang=en
Business Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday
Lunch 11:30 a.m. ~ 2 p.m.
Dinner 5:30 p.m. ~ 10 p.m.
A friend suggested meeting up at Lemonade for a quick and healthy lunch the other day. This grab and go/cafeteria style restaurant is located inside Fashion Island, on the second floor close to the fountain.
Outdoor seating area -
Entrance -
High ceiling with soft yellow and green color design give a casual/relaxing tone to the space -
Indeed it was a great choice. The restaurant has a wide selection of multi-cultural cuisine ranging from red curry salmon to double Decker grilled cheese sandwich.
On top of all the savory dishes, Lemonade also carries various salads, dessert, and my favorite thing during this visit - lemonade.
Never a big fan of lemonade, then later realized that I was just never met the right one. The restaurant carries seven different kinds of lemonade for $3/cup: old fashioned, cucumber mint, blackberry thyme, watermelon rosemary, ginger peach, blood orange, and Arnold Palmer.
My oh my, the cucumber mint flavor I had immediately converted me to a lemonade lover. It was refreshing with just the right amount of mint used to give you a slight tingling sensation. There are also tiny bits of cucumber pulps on the bottom, no doubt a perfect summer drink (non-alcoholic wise).
The dessert on the side is coconut layer cake $5. Very coconuty with generous amount of coconut flakes. The cake itself is light and airy.
The savory dishes all look so fresh and delicious -
Some lighter choices -
Array of salad -
Sandwich samples including buttermilk baked chicken, ham/manchego/quince, turkey, Masala green apple curry chicken, SW turkey club, herb grilled chicken, and grilled cheese -
For sweet-tooth diners -
Moroccan chicken with olives $7, one portion of beet and orange salad, one portion of radish/tuna/sesame salad, side of basmati rice $1.5 -
The chicken was highly seasoned with herbs, but the minty sensation prevails. Olives has a texture similar to grapes, which can burst in your mouth when biting into it. Unfortunately for the salad, the beet wasn't cooked long enough for my taste, didn't really care for the inconsistent texture and taste inside and out.
The watermelon radish was so pretty that I just had to grab some to my plate -
They even added black sesame seeds, I'm sure partly for the flavor; partly for the look of real watermelon. Asian style vinaigrette dressing.
Quinoa, tuna, and avocado wrap -
Kale salad, carrot salad, fish -
Mac'n cheese $3.75 -
The mac'n cheese here is more leaning towards a soft texture instead of al dente. Very cheesy, creamy - gooey goodness.
Food was decent, and the service was great too. The server was explaining to first comers about how the restaurant works and how to order their food. Always smiling, the whole staff has a friendly vibe which can be felt especially when talking to customers. There are also other servers cleaning the tables constantly, keeping the dining area tidy at all times.
If only all grab and go can be this good.
Cindy's rating: 7
Lemonade - Orange County Newport Beach
987 Newport Center Drive (inside Fashion Island Mall)
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 717-7525
http://www.lemonadela.com/
Operating hours: Daily 11 a.m. - 9:05 p.m.
Old Vine Café has always been one of my favorite spots in Orange County. Breakfast and brunch are superb here, especially the dishes that come with a Mexican touch. Dinner is served from Tuesday to Saturday but I never got a chance to try it. In fact, this place is packed almost all day long during dinner hours and weekends. If you ever want to pay a visit without the wait, try your luck before lunch rush hours on a weekday.
Old Vine Café is located at The Camp between Bristol Street and Baker Street. There are quite a few unique shops and restaurants with a hipster vibe. Wine store, tea shops, sportswear, even salon can be found in this area. My beloved (and up till this moment: the only beloved) burger joint Umami Burger is also situated at The Camp.
Semi-opened restaurant layout with no windows barrier between indoor and outdoor seating area.
Weekday morning before 11 is the best time to come. However, beware that the service can be quite slow doesn't matter if the restaurant is full or not. Not a big deal for me since my purpose was having a delicious and relaxing meal while soaking in the California sunshine at the same time.
Best seat to my opinion, is the indoor ones adjacent to the outdoor area, like regular window seats.
Six for sixty, where you can buy 6 bottles of carefully selected wine at a bargained price here at Old Vine Café. Not a bad choice if not sure how to pick up a decent wine with limited budget -
Menu -
Click on the picture to enlarge the view -
3 course set lunch for $22, available daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. -
Drinks menu -
Hitachino Nest beer is getting popular in California, I can see that owl everywhere. Espresso stout for the morning $7 -
The pleasant coffee beans aroma adds a nice complexity to the beer.
2011 Riesling, Scholss Lieser, Thomas Haag, Morsel, Germany $11 -
Rabbit mole $16.5 -
"Braised rabbit, 2 eggs, pasilla and cashew mole, fresh baked corn bread."
Where else can you find rabbit from a breakfast menu in Orange County? The meat was tender with just a tiny hint of that chocolate bitterness from the mole.
Lengua omelet $14 -
"Slow cooked beef tongue, queso fresco and spicy tomatillo salsa."
The fork tender beef tongue together with moist omelet and fragrant salsa, totally made my morning. Even though it must be at least 20 minutes passed from the moment when the order was placed till this wonderful plate of food showed up, it was all worth the wait.
Spanish style potatoes are included for the lengua omelet and other savory dishes. The potatoes can be substitute with cheese grits or mixed greens for extra $2. However, Old Vine makes awesome potatoes and it would be a shame to switch off to something else.
Unwillingness to give up my potatoes that was fully soaked in Spanish seasonings with crunchy seared edges, I ordered cheese grits on the side -
Creamy and satisfying. The leftover cheese grits were boxed home and turned into the dip for my salami chips.
House baked English muffin that comes with the omelet -
Other choices are toast or fresh baked cinnamon roll for extra $2. In addition, other house made spread including kiwi marmalade, strawberry marmalade, and apple butter.
Final bill -
The waitress took out the extra cheese grits because she forgot about it till half way through the meal.
Old Vine Café, along with The Camp is the place I would bring my friends over if they come to visit Orange County. There is quite a lot of stuff to see, to shop around, and most importantly, delicious food to help the friendships bond.
Cindy's Rating: 7 (supposedly 8 but the service can be very..very slow)
Old Vine Café
2937 Bristol Street. Suite A-102
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 545-1411
http://www.oldvinecafe.com/
Operating Hours:
Breakfast daily from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Lunch daily from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Dinner Tuesday to Saturday starting at 5 p.m.
Dinner Sunday and Monday closed
*Reservation is highly recommended for dinner
*Old Vine Café does not take reservations for breakfast or lunch
